Brotherly
by Statchar
Summary: AU. The elder brother's duty is to always watch over their siblings. Most often, it's not always so easy. Older Naruto. Not yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I ask myself, ****_ah wtf am I doing?_**** but it was begging to be written. It will probably end up being pretty lame.**

**It's english, except for some jutsu I suppose.**

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><p><strong>Prologue : The end at the beginning. <strong>

_Itachi looked over to the small trio, all wearing a black cloak with a red cloud pattern, finished off with straw hat. They were men, and all seemed to be quite powerful individually. There was one he easily recognized, a ghostly pale individual, Orochimaru. Beside Itachi, his friend, and possibly the only one until the end of his days easily recognized him too. _

_It seemed they didn't have to look hard at all, it was always little difficult to find anything while trying to remain inconspicuous. Orochimaru being there was a clear sign that they had found them, whoever they were._

_His comrade took his eyes off of them to look in his direction. Itachi raised a brow, and was responded with a roll of the eyes. He was always such a talker, so he let him converse for the time being. At least until possibly important matters came up that required more finesse. At least, he knew this himself._

_He turned to the others."So what's up?" he asked bluntly, as always,. "Although I don't really care about the snake bastard"_

_Perhaps he had intervene even sooner than he thought._

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Honestly the beginning.<strong>

Weasel looked down below, sitting on a perch, a tactical viewpoint. Below was road, where a group of rogue shinobi had just finished raiding a merchant's shipment. The number of shinobi was higher than the ninja who had abandoned the village but he guessed that they had gotten busy training some other crooked individuals.

It was night, the clouds covering the dim light of the moon. Vision was impaired, but not so overly so. However, it wasn't a problem for him, the sharingan was a useful tool in the dusk of night. No, the night was of little concern to him, but perhaps a little larger for his only teammate assigned with him.

Weasel looked up, positioned higher than himself was Fox. Dressed in the common ANBU gear of a light weight grey flak jacket and black apparel, with the porcelain mask with the distinction of a fox's. He was slightly quivering at the sight of what was occurring below. Not in fear, or anticipation, but in concealed anger.

Itachi Uchiha, or Weasel per in assigned codename, glanced down below again. The owner had been killed moments prior to their arrival, the daughter, an young woman was on the verge of being violated.

He could see the reasoning behind his anger, and Weasel was certain that Fox was in control of himself. He was part of ANBU for specific reasons, and mostly partnered with him for those as well.

He a very faint clicking sound from above, hardly inaudible except for when you're specifically hearing for it. He raised his right hand to grip the standard issued blade on his shoulder, preparing for the coming fight.

A light tap was heard beside him, the sound of Fox's stepping on the branch beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

His sharingan had been already activated, and he could see the numerous shadow clones laying in wait on the other side of the road and closer too. He could see several of his as well, but the majority belonged the person standing beside him. All in wait for the moment to ambush them.

There was several guards stationed around the area, no doubt looking for any hint of them. Or rather specifically, hunter ninja. Their defensive setup might've been impressive to ordinary shinobi, but it was rendered useless by a specific skill that Fox possessed. Perhaps it might have been more difficult if they had possessed a sensory type,

He saw the blond beside raise a peculiar kunai, a tri pronged one. He could him take several inaudible deep breaths, his hand gripping tightly on his shoulder. "Sorry" He whispered a moment later, before focusing on the task at hand.

Their allotted mental time was nearly up, just seconds away. Another three seconds passed before a faint whizzing of fox's kunai being thrown at fast velocity. His sharingan tracked the movement, the details being scrutinized. It looked like it was gliding slowly through the air. It's destination was not aimed at a person. More specifically, between two rogue shinobi. Other special kunai joined in its flight by the shadow clones.

The dead of night was in their favor, several more diligent shinobi were already becoming aware of the slight noise of tools cutting through the air. The less experienced wouldn't be as prepared. It was all for naught however.

"Now" Weasel whispered. He hardly gotten through finishing the word before he felt the slight sense of vertigo of being transported closer in. If he wasn't so used to the feeling, he might've been a little disoriented by it.

His sharingan captured that he was in the blind spot of two nearby targets, with a reverse grip, he made a slash towards the nearest neck. Contact was made, cutting clean through the neck of one before he stabbed the other in the axilla or underarm to reach the heart.

Leaving the blade engorged in a foe, he dug his hand into his tool pouch. He quickly turned his attention behind him to scan the battle quickly. His back was already being covered of what he assumed to a clone, several enemy ninja were confused by the attack. Taking advantage of darkness, he threw several shuriken embedding them in their vital points located around their faces and neck.

Their preemptive strike over, but the vast number of shinobi had already been taken down. There was now only two remaining targets, stationed further back near their earlier captive. One of them appeared to be a wind style user, shifting through hand signs. Predicting his movements, Weasel could tell that he would perform the Great Breakthrough technique, uncaring if he would cause potential harm to his fellow shinobi.

"Got the girl" Hearing the voice of the Fox by his side. He shifted through hand signs faster than his opponent. Just as his fired his wind style attack, he was able to retaliate with his clan's signature fire style technique.

Fire beats wind. The large fireball became a massive whirling torrent of destruction as it made contact with the attack. Weasel continued to pour chakra as the giant wall of fire covered the entirety of the road. The bright fire lighting up the darkness of the forest surrounding them.

He felt a burst of wind beside him, a shadow clone of Fox aiding with his own wind affinity. His own fire empowered by his comrade beside him, the inferno shot faster than anyone could react. Blazing through the battlefield and passing by where the last two treacherous duo stood.

He swept his gaze through the battlefield to confirm if there was any danger present. there was only one survivor from the band of rogues. Being bounded by a yet another shadow clone. Their brief skirmish, lasting only minute, left a trail of mayhem. Ash, fresh blood, embers and bodies littered the ground. The small flames slightly illuminating the surroundings.

He looked down the road behind him, seeing the silhouette of his teammate with the girl. Normally, the mission came first, saving civilians were secondary. Not that Fox would ever accept that. He could only assume that he recovered the girl before the fire reached her.

He approached the duo, still being very aware of his surroundings as a precaution in case reinforcements arrived. Fox had apparently taken off his mask in a attempt to comfort the sobbing young woman. Who appeared to be at least seventeen years of age.

"You're not supposed to have taken off your mask" Weasel said to the unmasked shinobi.

He looked up, a smirk appearing on his face whiskered face. "You know me, Itachi"

Sighing, Itachi took off his own mask. "Too well, Naruto. But the order is especially for you, I don't need to explain it, and then there's my name as well"

"Except you just said mine too"

"I did say I know you, you likely already said your name to her" He frowned. Mumbling a confirmation, the girl seemed to have quieted down a little. Nonetheless, the young woman would likely be traumatized by tonight's events.

"Let me check for wounds" Itachi suggested.

"Just some bruises..." But he let him check anyways.

It wasn't exactly his intention, he made sure the woman looked in his eyes, who made sure to voice her appreciation but was still otherwise frightened. When he finished, the girl visibly calmed down. Satisfied with his task, he took a few steps back once more. "Thank you..." She said quietly. Naruto was a little curious as to what he had done but decided not to comment on it and turned to the girl again.

"Well, I'll make sure that you get to the next town, is anyone there waiting for you?" He asked softly.

"My mom..." Seeming to be taking strides to not look at the carnage behind himself.

"I'll make sure you'll get there safely" He replied, creating a shadow clone to carry her off.

Itachi placed his mask back to where it belonged, facing down the road where their prisoner was being held. Walking towards him, he was immediately joined by Fox, now wearing his mask.

"So what did you do?" The blond asked.

"I just created a genjutsu to make her a little more calm and make her think she heard different names, just as a precaution" He replied, and he guessed that he slightly frowned from his answer.

"Oh, that's nice" Fox commented. He always liked his name being said.

Making their way to their prisoner, who was sprawled out on the ground. Some of the smaller fires lit up his form. He was bounded, eyes widened in fear as he watched the immediate destruction of the bodies surrounding him. So that any secrets that may have carried wouldn't be exploited by neighboring countries.

"That was...Flying Raijin... You can't be the 4th Hokage... He was..."He seemed to have recovered, only to beg a moment later. "L-let me go, please, I'll go back to the village!" He shouted deliriously.

"You've had your chances" Fox began. "The moment you helped in killing innocents, civilians belonging to the Land of Fire..." He trailed off, anger seeping off of him in waves. He worked on attempted to control his anger as Weasel interrupted.

"You can't escape your fate, but perhaps the Forth will forgive you for what you all have done if you give us the location of your hideout"

The man looked apprehensive, his eyes darting to the blond and him back and forth. Some tears forming in his eyes, no doubt wondering if he should accept his fate.

"We will get that information, it doesn't matter how you tell us" Fox added.

That seemed to have urged him to spill out his secrets, telling the location and other number of other shinobi present at their hideout. Once he was finished, he started to sob and beg for forgiveness for his betrayal over the village. His life ended with a quick death.

"This guys don't have any loyalty at all do they?" Fox commented as they ran along to finished their assigned mission.

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><p>"After all of this... Does it really feel that we're making a difference" Naruto asked, his mask off once more. Midday was already upon them, as the hot sun bore down on them. Their surrounding of the lush green forest and they sped through to return to their village with their mission finished.<p>

Itachi sighed, following regulations was never Naruto's forte, but he took off his as well. Associating the mask with more grueling tasks was pretty standard, as a way to cope with more harsher missions. Dehumanizing your opponents was also another way. You'll never be referred to your actual name as you wore it. Except, with Naruto, he wanted his name known.

"We're still quite young, do you think not? Perhaps when I inherit the Uchiha clan and when you're-"

"When I'm brought back from the dead you mean?" He replied. Naruto took out a orange band, a symbol of the leaf present in the middle. He carefully tied it around his forehead, the lack of the metal brace made it fit for wearing under the mask. The blond carried it at all times, only taking it off at night time excursions.

He had an odd obsession with color orange, always having the color with him at all times. At least he wasn't covered from head to toe in it. The fabric around his forehead was also apparently special to him in some manner.

"Yes, those past events and trials ahead help define us who we are, we learn and it may help us when we it's finally time to achieve our dreams." Itachi replied to him. "We need experience..."

"That's what the old man said, as well as the old pervert" Sweeping his hand through his hair in veiled frustration. "Although... I'm not even sure I'm ready, when the truth is revealed..." A small silence permutated between them.

"I don't understand what you're going through, and I hope I never do"

He chuckled then. "You're my friend Itachi, one of the very few who even knows my name, even for that I'm thankful for, Naruto Namikaze, and a shitty big brother..." He shook his head, sighing loudly.

"You're not just waiting, or sitting back, you're actively trying to overcome that burden"

"It's just...Hard y'know?" He said.

"I don't" Another hearty chuckle escaped from him from his tendencies to finish his sentences.

"Alright, let's get back and get you to your mommy you little kid" Naruto replied.

"You're a year older than I am " Itachi replied.

"You're thirteen, and I'm about to turn fifteen" Acting like that ended the discussion, he held up the fox mask in his hands. "Always thought this mask was a little funny in a way..."

"I should've known you'd think that way" Itachi chuckled. Before both brought their masks on.

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><p>The Hidden Leaf Village wasn't too far off when they equipped their masks, reaching edge of the village, they inputted the jutsu required to bypass the barrier without triggering the alarm.<p>

Naruto looked wistfully at the surrounding buildings on his way to visit the Hokage. He remembered seeing the carnage when the Nine-tails had attacked the village, bodies and rubble littered the streets. The destruction was horrifying, made worse by where it came from.

Shaking those thoughts away, he made his way towards the Hokage mansion.

Since that day, he was listed as killed within the chaos, along with his father and mother. He wasn't a fully fledged Ninja at that time. As such, he was unable to protect himself if his father's enemies made any attempt on his life.

His brother was given his mother's maiden name, spoken as a orphan. Naruto himself kept his father's name, Namikaze. Since he had been seen numerous times with his own parents and would recognized on the streets. So he was pulled and crafted into one of the Hokage's personal ANBU guards. Not without years of intense training of course.

In his musings, he found himself in front of the Hokage's mansion. Disregarding on wasting his time on going inside and taking the long way, he walled walked up to the window where the old man office resided.

Itachi followed him, but Naruto thought he was a little reluctant on that. Although they had done this plenty of times before.

"What's up old man?" As he jumped inside the room, landing in the middle of it, Itachi surfacing beside him later. The Hokage was seated behind his desk, smoking as he looked over a few files.

"Ah, Fox and Weasel, I assume your mission is complete?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked

"Yes" Itachi replied. Retrieving the scratched surfaces of the Headbands and placing it on the table.

The Hokage gave a somber smile as he took the tied headbands, placing it in a nearby drawer. They talked a little on their mission, giving some details. Itachi had said they he will write the report for a deeper analysis.

Seeing as they finished with their talk. As well as there was no one else in the room, he pulled aside his mask and placed on the side of his head.

"So, where's my money Old Man? I want to get some ramen before I go to sleep"

A hearty chuckle escaped from him as he pulled aside an envelope and threw it towards him. Easily catching it, he stashed it in his back pocket. His funds weren't transferred to a bank like the other shinobi and ANBU, he got it straight after a mission.

They put a lot of effort in making sure the general population was aware that he was deceased. Really, the amount of people that knew his name was pathetically low, he could probably count them on his fingers. Not counting any animals or amphibians.

"Naruto" Hiruzen started. "You will be on watch for your little brother for the next few day, starting tomorrow..."

Naruto felt himself stiffen, an action that was easily caught by the other two in the room with him. "Yeah, sure" He replied just as he felt.

"I hope that one day you can forgive me for taking of what should have been your childhood" The Hokage added.

"I don't blame you old man... I understand, but my childhood died a while ago, Really, all I can do now is keep moving forward" Naruto smirked at the the Hokage's expression, which was a little sullen. "Taking your hat, and trying to become a better brother is all I'm going for right now"

_Even if it feels impossible..._ He felt that last part was better left unsaid. No matter, the Old Man's face brightened up a little, a smile as he continued to smoke his pipe.

"Be sure to continue warming up seat will ya"As he slipped out the window. Itachi followed closely as they reached the ground. They courtyard they were in was bare, no trace of anyone else nearby.

"My mother wants to invite you over for dinner sometime" The Uchiha said.

"Really? That's awesome!" Naruto replied eagerly, he was already excited at the prospect. Another occasion when he didn't have to wear his mask, those were far and between. At least amongst others.

"Seeing as you're occupied though, it will after your mission" Itachi added.

"Ah, Alright" Slightly disappointed at that information. Nonetheless, it was something to look forward too.

"Shisui is also coming" He added.

"Now that sounds like a pretty cool time" Naruto replied jovially. Now he just needed to get past the next few days. "I'll see ya later Itachi, unless you want to come along for some ramen"

"I'll pass on for now, I'm not feeling ramen today"

"That's crazy, but it's your lost man"

"Hn, You'll somehow convince me to pay, and that won't do" As turned towards the direction of the Uchiha compound.

Naruto chuckled as he saw a gesture of goodbye from Itachi. "Alright then, see ya" Waving as he put on his mask to go through the gates out of the courtyard.

He strutted through the village, some shinobi and civilians nodding to him as he passed by, but otherwise they ignored him, like they do for most ANBU. As they always had some sort of mission to complete, or something like that.

He didn't like wearing the mask he had on, sure it was funny in a way, but not when he was merely strolling around the village. Plenty of people knew him as the son of the fourth. His whiskers and likeness was a tell tale sign of that.

He wasn't the only blond, or the only spiky haired individual. That would be crazy, so with the mask he was otherwise unidentifiable. His most prominent features were his whiskers, and briefly contemplated on whether some people made that connection with his brother. Who also had whiskers, but not without the blond hair. Like him, their mother gave birth in secret...

Naruto found himself at Ichiraku, the ramen stand. Sighing, he made his way inside, sweeping the flaps out of the way. There was three other people in here, the cook Teuchi, his daughter, and another customer.

"Oh! N!" Ayame called out loudly. Wearing her apron and her brown hair tied up into a bun.

He felt himself smile, something that she obviously missed. He was found out sometime after he was assumed dead. It probably had something to do with how frequent he was over here, or perhaps he had something to do with a little.

"What's up Ayame? Old Man Teuchi?"

"Good, good, come on in" As he opened up the little barrier to on inside.

"Thanks" As he went on inside and into the back room. Feeling grateful, he quickly placed the fox mask on the small table in the cramped backroom. It was mostly used to store a near endless supply of ramen and fresh ingredients So it was basically heaven for him.

Perhaps if it was left to him in his younger years, he probably would have ramen as his main diet. His own parents- mostly his mother- as well as the Perverted sage had ingrained into him that it was unhealthy to eat it so often. He made a point to have at least have few bowls in a week.

Ayame came in a moment later. "What do you need N?" She asked.

He didn't want to be called Fox, and he couldn't be called Naruto just like that. He didn't know any other people with his name. She settled on calling him N, some little nickname. It was significantly better than Fox.

Naruto smiled at her. "Just two bowls of beef ramen" She giggled for some reason, it made him a little confused as to why. He said nothing that he considered funny in any way.

"Okay, I'll get it quickly" As she disappeared through the blocked doorway to the kitchen. He shrugged as he pulled out the exact money for the bowls and placed it on the table and began to wait.

Perhaps he could've used his father's jutsu to quickly travel around the village, but he liked wondering around with his feet. There was several traces of the marks around, like one on top his the bust of his father.

Ayame came bursting in with his bowls and he began to feast on his favorite meal. Ayame began to converse with him as he ate, mostly small talk. It seemed small, but he was greatly appreciative of such a gesture. It was just...normal.

He didn't have a mask on, or merely just talk of missions and all that jazz. He was just merely enjoying a bowl of ramen while talking with friend who knew his name. It was a nice thing to end his day with, or at least until he had some rest.

"So 'N'?" She started. Finishing his first bowl, he mentioned for her to continue. "When do you think you'll be really back?"

"Hmm...I still need to become a better shinobi" There was other things, but it wasn't something that she was aware of, or needed too. It was his problem. "Then I know for sure, my brother and I will be a family..."

"Aww...That's sweet" She said rather affectionately, for some reason.

_'Girls...'_He thought, as he disregarded that. Ayame was a year younger than himself, she wasn't always like this. It started a year ago, so he guessed it was something that all girls went through.

He contemplated that perhaps that he should ask the perverted sage...or not. Knowing the individual's tendencies to be especially perverse. Kushina had continually warned him about him, at least to be wary about him.

"Oh hey! Teuchi, I want some ramen okay!" He heard the childish voice, one that he easily recognized. Ayame turned towards the voice, luckily missing him seize and drop his chopsticks.

Looking down at his bowl, he found that he was nearly finished. His appetite was nearly gone. The boy on the other side shared his appreciation for ramen, salt ramen. His mother's favorite.

Getting up, he put the fox mask on his face. Being noticed by Ayame, he saw that she bore a rather sad look. Likely for another reason that she thought it was.

"See ya later" He replied in a faux cheerful voice.

Feeling the effects of the Flying Raijin as he felt his feet come into contact with the floor. He appeared in a small clearing, a kunai being held on a thread as he looked behind him.

His apartment was lit by the light of the sun through the curtain. His dwelling wouldn't be described as luxurious by any means. It wasn't huge or tiny, it was ordinary, filled with some of his parent's belongings and photos of the past.

It didn't take long to prepare himself for bed, tired by his mission, which he had gotten no sleep over the night. He merely laid down, waiting for sleep to take him.

He loved his little brother, he truly did. He could it feel within him. He just...hated at what he had caused. It was something that was out of his control, and that took a tremendous time to understand. Now, he just had to forgive him...somehow. What he knew though, was that he going to accomplish that. Naruto believed in that.

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><p><strong>AN: Probably the only crappy fight scene in the whole story. **

**This story will have a sequel. This story won't be as giant as my other stories have the potential to be.**

**I'll use Canon elements that I see fit, and discard others. This story is mostly on the life of Naruto before...well you know, what happens in the prologue. **

**I have no fucking clue as to who to call Naruto's little brother. I'm unimaginative when it comes to names. I'm thinking Hashirama.**


	2. A Spoiler Chapter Title

**Chapter 2: A Spoiler Chapter Title.**

**A/N: The last update was right before I left to someplace. I'm back, this one was updated first because it was less daunting. Much less.**

_"You're no genius that's for certain, nothing like your father at all, heck, even your mother" The long white haired man said. Jiraiya, one of the legendary sannin. A pervert, as told by his mother. His father put in a more respectful manner._

_Naruto picked himself up from the ground, his muscles screaming in protest, hell, his bones ached. Shakily standing up, his vision slightly blackening, he faced the white haired old man once more. Failing to strand straight, the best he could do was stand aloof. If he his mouth was bleeding he was too tired to check, swallowing was also too tedious to accomplish so it trailed from his mouth._

_Naruto would travel with Jiraiya often, as the aging man still had to maintain his connections and go off on searching for Orochimaru. Keeping himself occupied. Once, Jiraiya had stopped a full scale war from breaking out. He only found that out after a nasty argument. _

_Jiraiya had once been adamant in not training him. Only being broken once he realized that a kid was hurting more than an old man._

_Despite that, there were times when he couldn't travel with Jiraiya. Being dropped off at The Hidden Leaf Village. To practice on his own, albeit with less effectiveness._

_He thought that he worked hard alone, But Jiraiya pushed him to the absolute limit, most often passing out at the end. If he didn't have any of the potent vitality and recovery of the Uzumaki, he probably would have dropped dead a long time ago. As the training regiment had been the same since..._

_He was talentless, but he kept going. His mother and father had passed along some ideals and advice. Kushina was a strict person, always berating and getting him to concentrate on homework and other stuff. His father always gave him pointers and simplified terms to get to him to understand better. Practicing with him and always showing the proper ways to do things. So he wasn't exactly helpless, just a little terrible at some things. _

_Itachi had graduated now, and was going for chuunin at the age of ten. He couldn't let a younger kid like him beat him, even if he was a genius. _

_"Yeah, Well... " He gave up talking, saving whatever energy he had left to keep going. Taking deep breaths to try and slow his beating heart. "Come..."_

_Even if Jiraiya didn't show it, he could tell that he was pleased by his answer. It was always something that the he valued, hard work. It was what his dad told him. It was probably why Jiraiya took him up as his protégé, it probably helped that he knew him beforehand, what his ties were._

Naruto placed himself in the tree as he watched the red haired boy down below. Swinging alone on a swing set. Naruto wasn't certain at how he should react to that. The boy was lonely, some stifled sobs escaped from him. There was no one near him, or so the boy thought at least.

He was a full seven years older than him, Born on August 14. Hardly a month younger than Itachi's little brother.

It was nearly dusk, so it was his shift to watch him. All through the night, while he wandered through the streets and slept through the dark.

Naruto was in the ANBU, and most often was tasked over watching his little brother. Hiro was his name. Hiro Uzumaki. Taking the maiden name of his mother. He remembered that the name Hiro was wish of his mother. Meaning generous or tolerant. Not like Naruto himself at all- she had explained- and herself too of course.

That obviously made him a little put out by that. So he had tried to act nicely and generous as possible. That little phase didn't last long at all. It was too boring, and his mother still loved him all the same.

Naruto sat down on the tree top. He lived his life in memories, wistful thoughts and regrets. His situation didn't allow many friends, merely other ANBU who knew him as Fox. Several had noted his slight lack of discipline, if not for his circumstance, he probably would have never become a part of the ANBU. He likely would have never thought of joining them.

The Uzumaki had pretty much been forgotten in the village, Generally people did not like to live in memories. Hiro didn't resemble his father much. His red hair however, showed his likeness to their mother. Other similar haired people didn't quite have the vibrant color that he had, but there was enough of them so they would remain fairly ignorant of his origins. The most distinguishable the Uzumaki possessed was their chakra and powerful life-force, which couldn't be detected as easily.

His little musing was interrupted as he saw two individuals appear on a roof top, one was arguing with the other quietly, in a way he couldn't hear. He prepared himself, just in case. The bigger one pushed the other one away and looked down at the boy.

He was never good at genjutsu, only skilled enough so that it would work on civilians. Even Genin could probably find it and dispel it, if they knew how. He quickly placed one on Hiro so that he would remain blissfully ignorant on the possible attempt on his life.

Naruto's precaution was somewhat awarded. Some whizzing was heard, the sound of shuriken gliding through the air, heading to the boy. He threw his own to intercept it, hearing the sound of them clashing against the other in the air.

Taking out his father's kunai, he quickly threw a pair towards the would be assassins. Much more swiftly than his opponents. Keeping his eye on the kunai, he prepared two shadow clones. Having one creating a rasengan in his hand as the kunai made contact. It was blocked, however, that didn't matter.

Appearing right before the attacker. He thrust the blue spherical orb into the shinobi's abdomen, the one who threw the tools. Wide eyes in clear pain, he screamed as he was launched across the rooftop and into a nearby water tower, denting the frame. Water sputtered out as his foe dropped almost lifelessly to the ground, unconscious.

Mediocre shinobi were not fully capable of taking a fully powered rasengan. Jonin could possibly stand up after taking a hit, wounded of course. The flak jacket would also help in cushioning the impact, being torn up in the process. Except both individuals had no Flak jackets, their rank was obvious, even without the optional flak jacket.

He put a little more power than necessary, and he quickly quelled the anger starting rise in his head. Which was starting to feel a little hot, he also wanted to avoid killing needlessly. They were still shinobi of the leaf.

"Y-you, killed him..."

Naruto looked over to find his shadow clone, standing over the other guy. Trembling fearfully with his hands in the air, in gesture to show that he was surrendering. Both looked like they were in teens. Around his own age.

"The punishments for attacking the jinchuuriki are absolute" He responded, just as he was told to do. He rather liked saying it.. "You're a moron if you think it would help the village, it would only endanger it" He didn't need to say anything more. It was all explained before, repeatedly. The other one didn't attack, but he was an accomplice. The Hokage would find a suitable punishment, the other one, however, was most likely going to be put to death or severely punished.

"So is this mere revenge? You're not the only one who suffered..." The teen flinched harshly, not bothering to look at him. "No wonder both of you are still genin" Naruto finished.

Technically, he wasn't even part of shinobi force of the Leaf. He wasn't even genin. So they were technically ranked higher than him. That was a funny thought.

He created shadow clones to transport the two away as he shifted away from the sight of the shuffle, disappearing to the Hokage's mansion. Assassination attempts were far and between, the last one he knew had a couple of years before. Jonin and the like knew the risks, civilians weren't quite as understanding.

Naruto sat down at the edge of the building. Hiro was still sadly swinging on the set. He was already in the academy, learning to become a shinobi. Classmates along with Sasuke Uchiha and others near his age.

They weren't learning anything strenuous or difficult yet. Nor really being graded upon anything in times of peace, in which there was no looming event of war. Quite a change compared to his and Itachi's days. Which were during the third war, although they weren't old enough to participate in it. They did, however, helplessly experience it. Now the Hokage changed the graduation to age twelve, and Hiro would truly begin to become a ninja when he turned eight years of age. Which would begin in the following year.

Naruto shifted as Hiro hopped off the swing and made his way towards the direction of Ichiraku ramen.

So he followed him as walked through the streets on Konoha. Many people merely ignored Hiro. He was slightly knocked aside as if he didn't exist at all, the older person acting like he hit nothing.

Naruto saw the stares, the concealed fear, the clear contempt, the cruel whispers.

Hiro merely brushed on, anger and confusion was present, but carefully hidden. Naruto created a clone to wait behind for a specific purpose.

It was when Hiro made it to Ichiraku that the memories of the shadow clone surfaced. A genjutsu placed upon the man which made him crash to the ground, spouting curses and looking for any sign of a perpetrator. Several people laughed at his apparent clumsiness.

Naruto created another shadow clone under the guise of a transformation to go ahead and fetch himself some ramen. It quickly returned with his order and he sat above the restaurant in silence as he ate a bowl of beef ramen.

Minutes later, Hiro finally left. So a clone of went inside for a quick chat with the girl inside.

"You know you don't have watch over him for me" Somewhat surprising Ayame, who was busy retrieving some of the used bowls that was left over.

"Oh, N?" She smiled brightly when he was recognized. "I just have too, he's your..."She lips closed tightly to avoid saying anything more. She continued on.

"He's such a polite little boy, I don't even understand why he's treated so..." She shook her head disapprovingly.

"Ah, well that's good, that's what our mom wished he would act" As Naruto sat down on a stool. He was sorely tempted to remove his mask as it was fairly close to an early closing time, so there wasn't a lot of people wandering about any more.

"Well, those little whiskers of his is just so cute" Ayame said cheerfully. "Besides, I want to help you, he's your brother, and you're a really good friend"

_'A good friend?' _He disagreed, frowning behind his mask. She had started to act so weird, he wished that she didn't go under some odd and unexplained transformation.

"Friends help each other right?"

"Yeah," He immediately agreed. Guess that was all to it then.

"You can't watch over him all the time, and Hiro enjoys it here" She replied.

He did often hear him being a bit more cheerful when he goes to Ichiraku. A genuine smile as he left the restaurant. Ayame was fulfilling a role that he couldn't bring himself to do, at least for now. Her and the old man were the very few who treated him normally, or allowed him to eat peacefully.

He moved his mask to the side, so they he could get a clearer view. "Thanks..." Smiling at the kind ramen girl. Who blushed for some reason, she was doing that a lot lately. He dispersed himself to bring the exchange over to the original.

It was late night already, another two hours and it would be dawn. Naruto was settled in the kitchen of Hiro's place.

The apartment was modest, probably a bit larger than needed for someone so small. Most of the things inside were relatively new, like the pans, stove and what not. The Third Hokage would never allow him to live in decadent places. Even if those didn't exist in The Leaf Village.

The place was kept clean, mostly by Hiro cleaning up himself. Even Naruto's own apartment was messier than his little brothers. He was apparently unknowingly taking after their father. It was a good sign for sure. Maybe Hiro would inherit the genius too and other good habits.

Naruto glanced at his little brother, sleeping on the other side of the apartment.

Perhaps... he might have actually tried to kill the jinchuuriki at one point in his life. If he was entirely a different person, if he belonged to another family. He wasn't though. He was the jinchuuriki's older brother.

Hiro had their mother's red smooth hair, and like him, bore the whiskers of being born from their mother. Which the old man had explained that the similar phenomenon had occurred in the Mito Senju's children, but not her grandchildren.

Some people might be able to connect the dots, but Naruto wasn't seen a lot when he was growing. At least until he was able to walk, he was kept out of sight for the majority of the time, away from the business of the Hokage most often. He didn't mind that too much, as he was with his mom for the majority of the time.

They were the sons of the greatest shinobi in the village and they both shared similar burdens.

Unlike Hiro though, his was completely unknown except to small handful of people and those alone. An even deeper secret of who he was. Because, just like his little brother, he carried the other half of the Nine Tailed fox within him.

The sons of the Fourth Hokage carried the tailed beast that destroyed their homes. He could imagine the faces of the people when they found that out. what they had done to Hiro. It'll be hilarious.

"You ready?" Itachi voiced, as he stood in Naruto's apartment. Dressed as casually as an Uchiha could be, which wasn't much. The blond however, was dressed in shorts and seemed to be enjoying being dressed in civilian clothing.

"Yeah, sure" He answered.

He peered around, finding his apartment messy and disorganized. Some cups of ramen was littered around the floor of his bed. "Your place is messy"

"No, no, you see, it's more of an organized mess, certain stuff goes in specific places. Then I know where everything is"

"Like the the empty ramen?"

"You see? You totally understand me. It shows I have some character"

"An untidy one" Yet, It almost made too much sense. He was a slight mess of a person.

"Why are we talking about garbage anyway?" Naruto voiced, before he placed his hand on his shoulder.

They appeared within the confines of the Uchiha district, more specifically, Itachi's own home. A large house, which he thought was a little useless, seeing as they were only four of them. Sasuke, himself and his parents. The home also had walls built around it, more for privacy than keeping people out.

The garden was a pleasant place to be in, filled with flowers planted by his mother. They began to walk inside, Itachi slightly leading. "So where's your mom and Shisui?" Naruto asked almost immediately. They had been planning this for a few days now.

"My parents had an errand to run apparently" He answered.

"That sucks..." Naruto said lowly. Further back than he expected.

Itachi turned to look at him, finding Naruto inspecting his arm. Tracing the formula of a familiar seal on his wrist. His expression losing his somewhat bright exuberance, turning into a blank expression.

Itachi approached. "Although Shisui is still here" Naruto's eyes refocused, looking at him.

"Sweet, let's go...They wandered through the creaking floors of his home before he spoke again. "Man I'm glad there's some Uchiha like you and Shisui and your mom"

"It could be better I suppose, there's always time" The lack of his father's name told him of his opinion about him. There were many that were arrogant, and thought lowly of those not within the clan. It had been brought about from the attack, when there was suspicions about the nine-tails attack. Since then, the Uchiha's sense of unity grew and well as pride.

"I hope so" Their talks resounded through the halls of his home before they reached his room. Entering, Shisui was still waiting by a table, a game of Go laid about.

"Hey Shisui" The blond traveled over and gave grabbed his arm to shake in a gesture of closeness.

"Hello Naruto, It's nice to see you again" Shisui replied. "There's some food that Itachi's mother left behind on the table there"

Itachi sat down across from other Uchiha to continue where they left off.

"Man, I love her food" As he quickly reached out to grab the plate and sit down between them. He stayed silent and ate eagerly while he watched them resume their play.

It wouldn't be Naruto's choice of passing time - for anything- but Itachi knew that whatever time spent with friends, it was time well spent. There were things he obviously liked and disliked but he never complained about it.

"So..." After Naruto quickly finished his meal. "I'm going on another mission with cat again, with the other cat. Man, they got to be more creative sometimes, like y'know, Tenzo"

"Yugao ?" He clarified. Itachi couldn't really think of another ANBU member with the cat mask.

"Yeah, So I was thinking, Should I tell her my name?"

"You want to tell everyone your name but go on" Shishi commented. As he played a piece to counter his strategy.

"Well, Tenzo, for obvious reasons knows my name. He got wood..." As Naruto stifled laughter at the joke.

"What's stopping you" Itachi asked, trying to get back on topic. The blond looked quizzically at him.

"Huh, I dunno honestly"

Shisui smirked, before adding his opinion. "You're noticing girls now"

"And what makes you think that?" The blond added.

"Itachi told me about the last mission, as well as the girl from the ramen stand, Now Cat. You are just realizing that girls are a little fascinating to you." He stopped there, but there were things that are left unsaid. Itachi also knew.

He looked over to Naruto, who seem to take this stride, nodding sagely at Shisui.

The blond never did have a much time to spend around girls, perhaps some simple etiquette to treat them learned from Mikoto or his own mother. Naruto had many things to focus on before, daunting and heavy.

The silver-lining was that Naruto was now there, better late than never.

"Hell, I'll tell her. Think she'd be impressed?"

"The return of the son of the fourth Hokage? Probably."

Naruto quickly stood up, seeing as their game was over. "Right, well, who wants to train some more?"

"We'll go for a bit, then after..."

He slowed his heart rate with deep slow breathes, it a minute or so for it to settle. Shisui was not much better off than him. Naruto however, looked like he went for a simple run. Although they did land some solid hits on him. Possibly fatal if it was a actual battle, but he didn't keep track of that.

There was no doubt that Naruto would be able to outlast him and Shishi three times over. Then there was the his father's technique, instant teleporting. The sharingan couldn't predict where he would appear, not anymore apparently.

"Activating all the seals at once, and only using one of them. Clever." Shisui applauded, Itachi agreed with him. Their earlier bouts with the blond revealed that the kunai released some chakra right before he used the technique. So they were able to know which one he appeared from.

"Yeah! I couldn't stand how bad I did last time. So I thought maybe I could do that. I thought I was being brilliant, but it turns out I missed one of my dad's notes about that, Heh" He rubbed the nape of his neck.

"We've done enough for now, Our chakra is not as extensive as yours"  
>"A pity isn't it?" He replied. " It makes for very interesting fights, at least for you two. Someday we really have to go all out and whoever the last one is standing is the winner."<p>

"Finesse is just as comparable as to strength" Shisui replied.

"Obviously, it's why I respect you two. As well as several other things"

**I suck at Haiku's**

**Please be cool, I'm begging.**

**Just leave a review**

Btw: **There's no focus on romance, mostly friendship.**


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